The Cross Archives - Kristin Saatzer

A Time of Release and Resurrection

April 7, 2023 By Kristin Saatzer Leave a Comment

Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. For I am about to do something new.

Isaiah 43:19

The Lenten season is coming to an end. The cross stands tall as we gaze at our Savior, who died and rose again so that we can live. The gift He offers is one of freedom, a life of loosening our grip on what pulls us down. A life of new beginnings and fresh, resurrected faith!

Release (synonyms): discharge, liberation, let go

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

John 8:36

There are quite a few things that I need to release – like control and worry and trying to figure things out. And yes, Facebook is one of the activities I need to decrease; the hold has been too tight lately.

Is anything holding you too tightly? It could be something physical like food. How about a habit? Perhaps it’s social media or that late-night sugar binge. Maybe unnecessary obligations? Shame or regret or unforgiveness? A toxic relationship?

His heart for us is freedom and the cross is the place to lay down what is holding us down.

What must you release to bring more of God into your life? Like me, you probably already know, but I encourage you to sit in prayer and ask God what needs to go. In Him, we have been set free!

Resurrection (synonyms): restart, revitalize, resuscitate, revive

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians 5:17

After release comes resurrection.Continue Reading

The Gift of Lent

February 20, 2023 By Kristin Saatzer 6 Comments

“I have calmed and quieted myself.”

Psalm 131:2

“What are you giving up for Lint?”

I remember hearing some Catholic kids in my elementary school ask one another this question sporting what I thought was dirt smudged on their foreheads. Come to find out, it wasn’t spelled “Lint” (nor was it the same thing as the lint in the dryer).

And it turns out it wasn’t dirt on their foreheads; it was ash from an Ash Wednesday ceremony at their church.

The church of my youth was non-denominational and did not observe this practice (obviously!), and neither have the churches I’ve attended as an adult. But in recent years, I have embraced Lent and am learning more about the liturgical church calendar. There is a lovely rhythm and beautiful meaning to each season and holy day, even the period called Ordinary Time.Continue Reading

I Can’t Stop Remembering The Cross! (repost)

April 1, 2021 By Kristin Saatzer 6 Comments

Original post: March 26, 2016

“And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh

mental and spiritual attitude].”

~Ephesians 4:23 AMP

“I can’t stop remembering the cross!” Words uttered by my four-year-old after participating in a Good Friday observance. As worship music played in the park, I walked Sammy over to look at large wooden crosses displayed on the ground. These crosses replicated the historical death-crosses of Jesus’ time. After running our fingers over the rough wood of one, my little boy attempted to lift it. Impossible. Next, came a litany of questions after plopping himself on my lap. Each question I attempted to answer brought on five more questions. His inquiring mind wasn’t satisfied and ready to move on to the playground. As he took in the scene, I felt his nervousness as he settled and unsettled on my legs. Revelation blossoming in his little soul.

In the weeks following our time in the park, Sammy peppered me with questions as he continued to analyze and process this story- this Jesus dying on the cross story. We read from the Bible and from picture books on the subject. We prayed. Running through the house, he’d stop and say “I can’t stop remembering the cross!”

Seventeen years later, I hear his sweet, passionate four-year-old voice in my head.

This experience moved Sammy (and his mommy too). He was renewed in the spirit of his mind by seeing and touching the cross. Ephesians 4:23 tells us in the Amplified, that we may have a fresh mental and spiritual attitude by being renewed constantly, continually, perseveringly.

Our renewal comes through remembering: the cross, the nails, the hands, the feet, the grace, the promise of eternity. Remembering: the love, the pierced side, sin erased, the curtain torn, the resurrection.

Rebirth. Renewal. Jesus.

Experiencing Christ, this is renewal! Trying to lift a heavy cross and running our hands over splintered wood. Reading the stories in His book. THIS is renewal (constant, continual), born anew again and again. Revelation blossoming in our souls.

And like my little boy once did, we say, “I can’t stop remembering the cross!”

At the cross at the cross, I surrender my life

I’m in awe of You, I’m in awe of You

Where Your love ran red and my sin washed white

I owe all to You, I owe all to You Jesus

~Chris Tomlin

Jesus, Women, and the Upside-down Kingdom

April 12, 2019 By Kristin Saatzer 2 Comments

As a child, I had a beef with some traditional, so-called “women’s work”. There was baking, sewing, and crocheting with my grandma. But cooking, no way! And doing dishes, oh brother. I believe my disdain stemmed from family holiday gatherings. I watched with arms crossed, as the men plopped themselves on the couch, football game humming on the TV, while the women cleaned up. This, after the females had laboriously cooked our meal. My little-girl brain felt it unfair.

Yet, this mini, sorta-feminist adored all these men: my grandpas, my dad, and dear family friends. These were not a lazy lot when it came to their professions. They were simply conforming to the norms of our family and of the larger, ages-old cultural system.

Society has systems and patterns of values passed through the generations. The Bible documents an extraordinary timeline and kingdom narrative. In the Old Testament, a moral code established a culture based on law. Religious and wealthy men were held in the highest regard; women, slaves, and the poor placed at the bottom of the rung.

“There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female.
For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:28 NKJV

However, in the New Testament, we meet a subversive Savior who shakes up an age-old social structure on his three-year journey to the cross. There was upheaval when He entered the scene; He turned His culture upside-down. Jesus healed and fed. Jesus touched the rich and poor, the young and old, the marginalized.

And the women.